Michael Charboneau
That worn out back-to-school question, “What did you do this summer?,” has been tossed around quite a bit in the past few weeks, and, as usual, it has been met with a range of worn out responses: I interned. I worked. I slept. But for Dennis Flynn, FCRH ’12 and Johnny Kelley, FCRH ’13, this past summer has been much more interesting than most. They created an award-winning Western musical that is now in the midst of an encore run at a theatre in Manhattan. How is that for productive?
Their brainchild is called Cowboys Don’t Sing, and it’s been gaining some serious momentum in the past few months. The show premiered in February 2012 at Fordham’s Blackbox, but the real story begins with Flynn and Kelley three years earlier.
Surprisingly, they had only limited experience with drama before embarking on the Cowboys adventure. Kelley made his first appearance onstage while still in high school, playing Helen Keller’s father in The Miracle Worker: “I learned sign language, wore a fake goatee, and pretended the whole time like I knew what I was doing,” he said. It was not until they came to Fordham that they gained real experience performing and started developing their creative vision. Kelley joined Fordham Experimental Theater, and both he and Flynn tried out for Fordham’s improv comedy troupe, now known as Stranded In Pittsburgh. During this time they developed their unique taste for comedy, which became the catalyst that led to Cowboys. “I think Johnny and I both approach everything from a comedy-first perspective,” said Flynn.
It was not long before the two decided to start working on their own script. Kelley had performed in a number of student-written plays through FET, and this gave Flynn the idea to write a play of their own. They cite the late Fordham Professor, Meir Ribalow, former artist-in-residence in the Department of Communications and Media Studies, as a major influence on their work. His ideas about Westerns were especially important. With his expertise in mind, the two decided to try writing their own Western. “Johnny suggested we do one, and then the title came about, causing us to work backwards on the story from the title, which is exactly what one should not do,” Flynn said.
Despite the odd approach, the two worked diligently and eventually came up with the script for what would soon be Cowboys. Early on, the duo enlisted the help of another Fordham student, T.J. Alcala, FCRH ’13, to help make their idea a reality. Kelley and Flynn initially sought him out to help with composing the show’s music. Alcala, who grew up taking piano lessons and also learned to play guitar, seemed a natural choice for such a role. “Johnny and I had had experience playing music together before, so we had a certain amount of confidence that we might be able to make something good,” said Alcala. Later, Alcala would also take on the lead role of the show, giving him a unique view into both the creation and performance of Cowboys.
Writing and composing the music became a collaborative effort involving all three of them. Flynn penned most of the lyrics, and Kelley and Alcala composed music to go with them. Alcala sums it up like this:
“When Dennis asked us for a song, we’d ask for the background: some potential lyrics, the general mood, the arc of what’s being covered, etc. We’d then take that to a music room in Keating, Johnny with his guitar and I on the piano, and we’d just throw ideas at each other.”
Alcala describes the music, which is packed full of lyrical jokes, as “silly,” but also notes that it draws on a number of different genres. Audience members who listen carefully will be able to pick out traditional Old West melodies mixed in with elements of jazz, show tune duets, and even “an almost-metal jam song.” Although it sounds strange, the eclectic mix is all part of the plan. Says Alcala, “We tried our best to pay tribute to the classic sounds and progressions of the Old West … while at the same time including the variety of genres that tends to come from musicals.”
The show had its debut at Fordham in February 2012, and audiences loved it, though Flynn admits that “audiences in the Blackbox will pretty much laugh at anything.” After its initial run at the Blackbox, the show appeared as a shortened fifteen-minute version at the West Village Musical Theater Festival in June 2012, where it won a number of awards, including Best Musical. But they were just getting started.
Last January, Kelley and Flynn decided on a whim to enter the FringeNYC festival, which bills itself as “the largest multi-arts festival in North America.” It attracts hundreds of theater companies from all over the world, and features a multitude of shows. It was a big step-up from the intimate performances at the Blackbox, yet the two were unfazed: “we wanted to see just how big this Cowboys thing could get,” Kelley remarks.
The results were stunning. Cowboys, which features a cast entirely made up of Fordham alums, beat out nearly two hundred professional companies and took home the Overall Excellence Award for Best Book, Music, and Lyrics. Additionally, the play was one of ten selected to appear in the FringeNYC encore series, giving it an extended run at the Players Theater in Manhattan.
Cowboys has shows scheduled through the end of September, but Kelley and Flynn are already planning for the next step on their adventure. “We have been in talks with various industry professionals about doing an off-Broadway run,” Flynn notes, adding, “this encore series will not be the last time you see Cowboys.”
Nor will Cowboys be the end of the line for the duo. They are planning on continuing to work together and even hinted at “a few specific projects that are in the works.” One thing’s for certain though: they have powerful chemistry as a creative team. Says Kelley, “Dennis is one of my best friends, the funniest guy I know, and my roommate. We are gonna keep this up.” “Yeah, at this point we are kind of stuck together,” adds Flynn. Stuck together, and well on their way to seeing their names in lights.
